Chapter Two
The next morning, whileJane was dressing for the day, her ladies’ maid informed her that Viscount Sherbourne had come to call upon Emma. Jane frowned, wondering why Emma hadn’t immediately alerted her. As Emma’s companion and chaperone, it was her duty to make sure nothing untoward happened between the courting couple. Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she noted that by piling her hair in a tight chignon and donning a steel-gray morning gown that did not flatter her in the least, she’d managed to age herself dramatically.
The emotional upheaval of her interaction with Basingstoke last night had shown her that she could no longer pretend that she had any prospects whatsoever. She was twenty-five years old, and no knight in shining armor was coming to save her. She’d never be a wife or mother. The sooner she came to terms with her spinster status, the better.
Her tumbling thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she entered the drawing room and caught sight of Emma. Her charge reclined upon a sofa wearing nothing but a purple satin robe, her lovely dark hair streaming around her slim shoulders. Jane was so stunned that for a moment she couldn’t even speak. This was bad. So very bad. She saw her reputation—the only thing she really had left— going down in flames along with Emma’s. What had the girl been thinking? Had she lost her mind?
“Good God, Emma,” she finally managed. “Please tell me you didn’t receive Viscount Sherbourne in your dressing gown. Whatever must he think of you?”
Emma grinned, seeming very pleased with herself. “He thinks I’m a little better than a whore. But he wants to marry me anyway.”
The lecture on propriety died on Jane’s lips. “Sherbourne proposed?” Relief poured through her, and she raced across the room to give her young friend an exuberant hug. “Oh, Emma. How wonderful. He’s exactly what you’ve been looking for.”
Despite Emma’s beauty and obscenely large dowry, finding her quality suitors had proved quite the challenge. Her brash, bubbly personality had proved too much for most titled gentlemen, who wanted meek and biddable wives.
“Yes. He’s absolutely perfect.” Despite her brazen behavior, Emma seemed brittle in Jane’s embrace, obviously not as confident about the entire matter as she wanted Jane to think. “Sherbourne needs my dowry desperately.” Emma ducked out of Jane’s embrace. “He didn’t even try to deny it.”
Jane frowned. “Well, we knew that, of course. But I expected him to propose more gracefully. He should have made more of an effort to court you.” Sherbourne’s actions had been just as disgraceful as Emma’s. What sort of gentleman arrived to propose at such an unreasonably early hour the day after they’d been introduced?
“He considers his proposal a business arrangement.” Emma bit her lip, finally letting her doubts show. She’d insisted that all she cared about was getting a title, and marrying Sherbourne would eventually make her a countess, but she had to want more from her life than that.
“Surely, romance will come in time,” Jane tried to reassure her. “I sensed a strong attraction between the two of you.”
“He’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.” Emma shrugged, a sudden smile curving her lips. “Perhaps I will marry your haughty young viscount,” she told Jane conspiratorially. “But I’m not going to give him an answer right away. In fact, I have every intention of making him wonder.”
Jane forced a laugh, wishing she had even an ounce of Emma’s self-confidence. One did not make a man like Viscount Sherbourne wait! But even though Jane knew the rules and etiquette of polite society, she was wise enough to admit that she knew nothing of how to seduce a man, a knowledge Emma seemed to have been born with.
“Well, I’m sure you and Sherbourne will be able to work things out.” Jane fingered the high neckline of her unflattering gown, a surge of sadness overwhelming her. She wanted the best for Emma, but she had to admit that she’d enjoyed having the young woman around. She supposed she could take on another American heiress after Emma left, but then that girl would leave her, too.
All she’d ever wanted was for someone to love her enough to stay.
* * *
JULIAN WAS SURPRISEDwhen his butler escorted Sherbourne into his study the next afternoon. Sherbourne had never arrived unannounced before As his old friend took a seat on the other side of Julian’s desk, he looked both terrified and excited.
“I did it,” Sherbourne stated without preamble.
“Did what?” Julian asked blankly, pushing aside the account books he’d been working on to give his friend his full attention.
“I proposed to Miss Marks,” Sherbourne replied with a note of exasperation, as though Julian should have known.
“Miss Marks?” Julian blinked, utterly taken aback. He’d known Sherbourne since they were lads and had never once known the man to do anything so rash. “You mean the girl you just met yesterday?”
“I decided there was no reason to drag the matter out. If she won’t have me, I’ll have to find someone else.” Sherbourne shrugged uncomfortably. “The creditors are nipping at my heels. I don’t have much time before my father completely ruins us.”
Julian knew how hard it was for his friend to admit such a thing. Sherbourne was nothing if not prideful. “I had no idea things had gotten this bad. Perhaps I could loan you enough to tide you over?”
Sherbourne gave him a quelling look. “I appreciate the offer, but I couldn’t possibly take your charity.”
“Well, think it over,” Julian insisted. “It seems a far better plan than marrying a girl you don’t know the first thing about.”
Scrubbing a hand across his wan face, Sherbourne managed an uneasy chuckle. “Can I tell you something in the strictest confidence?”
Julian leaned forward, intrigued. Though he considered Michael one of his closest friends, they weren’t in the habit of sharing secrets. “Of course. Consider me a vault.”
Sherbourne shook his head. “When I arrived, she kept me waiting for an eternity, then came down to greet me wearing nothing but a purple satin dressing gown.” He leaned back in his chair. “She is exquisite. I was utterly flummoxed. Made an utter ass of myself. She agreed to think about it but didn’t give me an answer. I feel I’ve ruined everything.”
The look of abject misery on Sherbourne’s face was the only thing that kept Julian from laughing outright. He couldn’t imagine his straitlaced friend confronted by such outlandish behavior. “Do you think she was having you on? Trying to see how you’d react?”
